


Wind Up

by Dance_Elle_Dance



Category: Victorious
Genre: Episode: s02e04 Tori Gets Stuck, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 14:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4880809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dance_Elle_Dance/pseuds/Dance_Elle_Dance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tori stops by the hospital after the failed play to see if Robbie is alright. She wants to blame the blood loss for her suddenly jittery heart, but knows that might not be the case. (Originally posted on 5/29/11.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wind Up

**Author's Note:**

> Re-post of my first RobbieTori, one of my favorite pairs in this fandom. Please enjoy!

She shakes slightly as she makes her way to his recovery room. The doctors told her that the operation was a success, and that Robbie would be back to school in no time. To not worry, because everything would be alright, even though having some kind of toy car inside your body seems silly and strange and slightly scary because no one other than _him_ would be able to make that happen.

Tori isn't sure if the shaking is caused by the fact that she had to give so much blood or the fact that she's...worried.

She walks to the elevator that would lead up to his floor, and presses a button. She watches as Trina - the only person who would drive her here because she had her own little problem called tuberculosis to deal with - walks to the counter and coughs on the woman manning the station. The woman looks at Trina as if she's something diseased (which she is) and grabs her arm to take her somewhere Tori doesn't see because the elevator doors shut, blocking it out.

She rides up, up, up on the elevator. It seems that the machine won't stop for some reason. Maybe it's her wobbly legs and spinning head that make the ride seem more Six Flags than anything else. By the end of it, she's holding to the side of the elevator, fingers dangerously close to pressing the emergency button for no apparent reason. She jerks away, avoiding even more embarrassment, and steps out into the floor where Robbie Shapiro resides.

Tori tries to remember the number of the room he said he'd be in, and she finds it, just on the edges of her memory. Walking in that direction, she has to stop for a few minutes to regain her footing. When no one's looking, she reaches over and steals a muffin from one of the trays of hospital food being delivered. That seems to help a bit with the wooziness, but not much, and she continues on her way.

It's all she can do to reach the room labeled "Shapiro" underneath the number 348. Hey, at least they helped her out a bit by penciling his name there, otherwise she might've missed it.

Tori turns into the room, trying to keep a lookout for any of Robbie's parents or anyone else that has decided to visit him after his surgery. She finds no one, other than Rex, sitting on the bedside table next to an uneaten tray of food.

_At least there are no giant fans around..._ Tori thinks to herself, and a bemused smile crosses her face.

She's not sure what to do with herself now. She's never been a fan of hospitals - she wouldn't like to meet the person who was, actually - and she never figured out what to do in situations like this.

Sure, there were moments in television shows where the main character would be in the hospital, and their loving girlfriend would come sit beside them until they healed. Possibly hold their hand. And if they weren't a couple already, they'd confess their love for the injured person...

Tori finds herself blushing after that train of thought.

She realizes she hasn't even looked over in Robbie's direction, so she does so, and gasps slightly. He looks very pale, worse than usual, and his brows are knitted in what looks like pain. But he's unconscious, so maybe it doesn't hurt that bad. Maybe the drugs are taking that away from him. She hopes as much.

The doctor steps in, and Tori looks over to him with tired eyes. The edges of her vision blur, and he looks at her, pursing his lips. "We don't need any more blood from you, Miss Vega."

Tori laughs, and the sound of it is slightly deranged. "No, no, no. I just came here to see Robbie..."

"Well, visiting hours are..." the doctor looks at her for a moment, judging her appearance. "I can make an exception. Just sit down and try to get some rest yourself."

"Thanks, doc." She gives him a smile, and the doctor returns it for just a bit, before the loud nurse that had took her blood before calls him over to see another patient.

Tori smiles to herself and pulls up a chair. Well, at least she gets to see him. She almost trips in the process of relocating the chair to the side of his bed, but she just laughs it off quietly, not wanting to wake Robbie up. Rex gives her a glare though, she's certain. Though maybe it's the effects of not having enough blood in her system. Most likely. Yeah...

She sits down in the chair, which is surprisingly comfortable for one in the hospital. Tori looks to the table where Rex sits, and sees that Robbie's glasses are deposited right on the lap of the puppet. Who is looking at her. Tori decides not to look over there again for the duration of her stay.

Instead, she focuses on Robbie. He looks peaceful, as does everyone when they sleep. The natural anxiety he has is erased by unconsciousness, leaving his features calm and unmarred. He takes in small breaths through barely parted lips, his eyelids flicker with what she believes to be dreams. She watches as his chest moves, indicating that he is still breathing. Just watching him is enought to make her even more tired than she was before. In fact, she feels her eyelids droop just by watching him. Finds that its hard to keep her eyes open. She leans forward onto the bed, supporting herself with her forearms. Her eyes are trained on his figure, and she just watches...

It's not for a few minutes that she realizes that her heart is thudding erratically. Maybe this is a side effect of giving too much blood at once? She's scared for a moment, but no... Tori realizes that the strange beating of her heart is a result of the man in the bed in front of her, and she's slightly embarrassed of the fact. How could she feel that for Robbie? Goofy, dorky, puppet-toting Robbie?

There's something about him though... Tori doesn't have time to contemplate what it is, however, because she's slumping forward, pillowing her head on her folded arms, her face still directed toward the mop of dark hair on the pillow in front of her. Her battle with sleep is not going in her favor.

She is conscious of one thing, however, before she falls asleep - that somehow, _somehow_ her hand ends up clasping Robbie's.

\---

The sunlight wakes him the next day. Robbie groans and puts a hand over his eye to shield the rays of sun from his face. The pain in his stomach is something that he couldn't compare to anything else he's experienced, it hurts that bad. Rex is staring at him from the table, and through blurry vision, he sees his glasses have been placed on the puppet's lap. He tries to reach over to get them with his right hand, when he feels a weight on it, soft and unimposing. Blinking, he uses his other hand to retrieve his glasses. Sliding them on, he looks and sees Tori Vega sleeping at his bedside, his hand clutched in her own.

For a moment, he's disoriented. How could Tori be here? Didn't she have a play? In fact, he watched her stumble off to said play last night, worried out of his mind for her. The only other choice was that she had come to see him after the play, when she was already weak enough.

He just stares at her, and feels the familiar tinge of worry coat his thoughts of her. She's sleeping, he can tell, her back rising and falling with movements that are somehow graceful. At least she's breathing. At least she's not passed out somewhere unfamiliar. At least she's okay. At least she's with him.

_At least she's with me._ Robbie scoffs. How selfish could he be?

He doesn't linger on that for long, though. The nurse comes in and checks him for any problems, purposefully being quiet around Tori, seeming to know how much she gave for him to be able to have that surgery. Tori doesn't budge, her hand gripping his firmly, even in sleep.

"Are you in any pain?"

"Slightly."

"Want some of your medicine?"

"Yeah...please."

The nurse injects some medicine into the IV in his arm and she gives him a small wink before she leaves. It doesn't start to take effect until after he's eaten his breakfast, though. He finishes his eggs just as the wave of drowziness kicks in.

The last thing he's conscious of is Tori's hand, folded around his in an almost protective gesture.

Robbie thinks, just as the last vestiges of consciousness are pulled away, that maybe swallowing that car was the best thing that could have ever happened to him.


End file.
